Page 24 - Florida Sentinel 12-16-16 Online Edition

Kwanzaa
The Meaning Of Kwanzaa And
Kwanzaa is an African American and Pan-African holiday that is celebrated by millions of people through- out the world. It represents a cultural message which speaks to the best of what it means to be African.
Dr. Maulana Karenga, Professor and Chairman of Africana Stud- ies at California State Uni- versity, Long Beach, introduced the Kwanzaa cel- ebration in 1965. He created the holiday after the riots in Los Angeles as a means of bringing African Americans together. The celebration is one of family, community and culture.
This year, Kwanzaa will begin on Friday, December 26th and end on Thursday, January 1st. The theme this year is: “Practicing the Culture of Kwanzaa: Living The Seven princi- ples.”
Nguzo Saba
The celebration focuses on 7 principles known as Nguzo Saba. The princi- ples and their meaning are:
Umoja means Unity: To
strive for and to maintain unity in the family, commu- nity, nation, and race.
Kujichagulia means self-determination: To de- fine ourselves, name our- selves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves.
Ujima (means Collective Work and Responsibility: To build and maintain our com- munity together and make our brothers' and sisters' problems our problems, and to solve them together.
Ujamaa means Cooper- ative Economics: To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them to- gether.
Nia means purpose: To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
Kuumba means Cre- ativity: To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our commu- nity more beautiful and ben- eficial than we inherited it.
Imani means Faith: To believe with all our hearts in our people, our parents, our
teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.
Symbols Of Kwanzaa
Mazao, the crops (fruits, nuts, and vegetables) symbolizes work and the basis of the holiday. It repre- sents the historical founda- tion for Kwanzaa, the gathering of the people that is patterned after African harvest festivals in which joy, sharing, unity, and thanks- giving are the fruits of collec- tive planning and work.
To demonstrate their Mazao, celebrants of Kwan- zaa place nuts, fruit, and veg- etables, representing work, on the mkeka.
Mkeka: Place Mat --- the Mkeka, made from straw or cloth, comes directly from Africa and expresses history, culture, and tradi- tion. It symbolizes the histor- ical and traditional foundation for us to stand on and build our lives because today stands on our yester- days, just as the other sym- bols stand on the Mkeka.
The Mkeka are made from Kente cloth, African mud cloth, and other textiles from various areas of the African continent. The Mishumaa Saba, the Vi- bunzi, the Mazao, The Za- wadi, the Kikombe Cha
Umoja, and the Kinara are placed directly on the Mkeka.
Vibunzi: Ear of Corn - -- The stalk of corn repre- sents fertility and symbolizes that through the reproduc- tion of children, the future hopes of the family are brought to life. One ear is called Vibunzi, and two or more ears are called Mi- hindi.
Each ear symbolizes a child in the family; one ear is placed on the Mkeka for each child in the family.
The Nigerian proverb “It takes a whole village to raise a child” is realized in this symbol (Vibunzi), since raising a child in Africa was a community affair, involving the tribal village, as well as the family. Children are es- sential to Kwanzaa, for they are the future, the seed bear- ers that will carry cultural values and practices into the next generation.
Mishumaa Saba: The Seven Candles -- Candles are ceremonial ob- jects with two primary pur- poses: to re-create symbolically the sun’s power and to provide light. The cel- ebration of fire through can- dle burning is not limited to one particular group or country; it occurs every- where.
PAGE 12-B FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2016